Introduction and Overview

Language, Gender and Sexuality

In this course, Professor Helen Sauntson (York St John University) explores language, gender and sexuality. In the first module, we provide an introduction to the field, including an overview of recent research. In the second module, we think about how gender and sexuality are constructed through language and other communicative practices used in advertising and product packaging, before turning in the third module to consider the language of gender and sexuality in the context of schools and classrooms. In the fourth module, we think about the representation of women in a particular news article, while in the fifth module, we look at how gender and sexuality are constructed through language in online media. Finally, in the sixth module, we think about structural inequalities in language and language use and examine the way that these inequalities produce discriminatory effects in terms of gender and sexuality.

Introduction and Overview

In this module, we provide a broad introduction to language, gender and sexuality, focusing in particular on: (i) the work of Judith Butler and the concept of performativity; (ii) the work of Jane Sutherland and the importance of how people are represented linguistically; (ii) the problems associated with earlier approaches, such as that of Robin Lakoff and Deborah Tannen; (iii) the extent to which more recent approaches have challenged gender stereotypes as opposed to reinforcing them; (iv) the persistence of the 'traditional' view of gender differences, with best-sellers such as John Gray's 'Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus' (1992); (v) the work of Kimberlé Crenshaw and the concept of intersectionality; and (vi) some advice on constructing good research questions in the field of language, gender and sexuality.